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The Energy Blog is where all topics relating to The Energy Revolution are presented. Increasingly, expensive oil, coal and global warming are causing an energy revolution by requiring fossil fuels to be supplemented by alternative energy sources and by requiring changes in lifestyle. Please contact me with your comments and questions. Further Information about me can be found HERE.

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October 22, 2007

Micro-Vett Converting Fiat Doblò Station Wagons to Electric Vehicles

With a range of approximately 60 miles (100 kilometers) the all electric Micro-Vett Fiat Doblò 5 seat station wagon, powered by a 18 kWh Altairnano NanoSafe® battery pack is undergoing field trials in Oslo, Norway. The battery pack was recharged three times, in less than ten minutes using a high voltage rapid charging system, for a total of three times to travel a total of 186 miles (300 km) at a top speed of 72 mph (120 kM/h). Go Green expects to ship up to 20 Micro-Vett vehicles to customers in the next several months, and an additional 250 vehicles are planned for shipment in 2008.

"Due to the absence of the Phoenix vehicle, we have selected Micro-Vetts range of vehicles to present during elections in Norway."

"Altairnano are currently selling the batteries at U$2.00 per watt. It was explained that through volume this could be reduced to U$0.50 per watt by means of automating the production of the cell and module"

This car provides somewhat of a quandary for me. The range of 60 miles is more consistent with that needed for commuting, while the size of the car is more in line with a vehicle used to travel greater distances. For the expected sales volume, it does not really matter what the range or size is, but I would expect some rationale for that. Perhaps the first use at the elections in Norway determined the design parameters. The 35 kWh Altairnaro battery pack could be used for longer ranges and smaller vehicles are available from Micro-Vett, in fact their website says the YDEAmicro-car is now available with electric drive, what kind of batteries was not stated.

As far as the Go Green comment on the availability of the Phoenix vehicles this may be in line with companies August 23 announcementthat "While Phoenix Motorcars had hoped to begin initial deliveries of its vehicles by this fall, we have decided to delay deliveries until early 2008." The price of the Altairnanol battery packs, $9,000 for an 18 kWh pack is about in line with expectations, but higher than my expectations for "automated production".

The Diablo provides a small market for Altairnano's batteries while Phoenix gets its act together, if it ever does. Altairnano bought a stake in Phoenix, so I would think they are pretty confident that it will go foreward.

The entire text of the press release on which this post was based is available on the next page.

RENO, NV -- AeroVironment, Inc. (Nasdaq: AVAV), Altair Nanotechnologies Inc. 'Altairnano' (Nasdaq: ALTI), Micro-Vett, SPA and Go Green Holding AS, jointly announced the successful public demonstrations of the All-Electric Fiat Doblò to government officials and potential commercial customers in Oslo, Norway. On October 2nd, half-way through an ongoing 60-day demonstration, the Micro-Vett Fiat Doblò, a regular size 5-seat station wagon vehicle, powered by a custom 18 kWh Altairnano high performance NanoSafe® battery pack, traveled 300 kilometers (186 miles) in an urban delivery circuit. The custom battery pack was fully recharged in less than ten minutes a total of three times using AeroViroments' high voltage, 125kW rated, rapid charging system. The vehicle will be driven an estimated total of 7,500 kilometers during the 60-day demonstration period, which translates to an annual equivalent use of 45,000 kilometers.

The Fiat Doblò is designed both as a commercial medium-duty transport vehicle, as well as a regular size family car. Micro-Vett has been converting standard vehicles to electric drive for the past 20 years, and today, they have a wide range of passenger and utility vehicles available for sale. Go Green expects to ship up to 20 Micro-Vett vehicles with Altairnanos 18 kWh NanoSafe® battery packs to customers in the next several months, and an additional 250 vehicles are planned for shipment in 2008. Altairnano offers a range of NanoSafe® battery packs for all-electric vehicles requiring from 10 to 35 kWh of energy storage.

"This alliance of innovative companies is a powerful combination that is committed to providing clean transportation on a global platform," said Asbjorn Slordahl, Go Green Holdings’ chief executive officer. "With battery packs from Altairnano, and fast-charge infrastructure from AeroVironment, these roadway-ready, all-electric vehicles converted by Micro-Vett and distributed by Go Green are a powerful example of what happens when you combine the right technology, with the right providers, at the right time."

"This is a key step forward in demonstrating the viability of all-electric vehicles, and the fast charge infrastructure necessary to enable their practical use," said Joe Edwards, vice president and general manager of AeroVironment's Energy Technology Center. "This demonstration proves that the technology to deploy electric vehicles for everyday use is available and ready. Our PosiCharge® fast charge technology has demonstrated itself to be reliable for the daily operation of thousands of heavily used, low voltage electric industrial vehicles throughout North America and increasingly in Europe, Australia and Asia. Using PosiCharge® to support high voltage electric vehicles is a natural extension."

"This public demonstration in Norway demonstrates another all-electric vehicle platform that is powered by Altairnano's unique lithium Titanate NanoSafe battery pack product line. The NanoSafe® battery packs are safe, powerful, fully rechargeable in less than ten minutes with rapid charge systems, have long life and operate in extreme temperatures," said Alan J. Gotcher, Ph.D., Altair Nanotechnologies, Inc.'s president and chief executive officer. "With more than 1,700 electric-powered vehicles in the country, Norway is taking a proactive approach in the adoption of all-electric vehicle technology and products. Our innovative battery technology, which is capable of thousands of re-charge cycles, provides a necessary ingredient for the adoption of EVs around the globe."

"Micro-Vett has been manufacturing electric vehicles since 1987 and so we constantly follow energy accumulation systems evolution, from batteries to fuel cells," said Massimiliano Di Gioia, Micro-Vett Vice President. "Until now we've seen some developments, but Altairnanos fast charge batteries have the potential to revolutionize electric vehicles and also the automotive industry. It was very exciting to see Doblò’s charge level indicator going up visibly in Oslo. With Altairnano’s fast charge batteries, we can overcome the primary electric vehicle limitation because we can achieve refuelling times comparable to those of gasoline-powered vehicles.”

About AeroVironment, Inc. (AV)

Building on a history of technological innovation, AV designs, develops, produces, and supports an advanced portfolio of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and efficient electric energy systems. The company's small UAS are used extensively by agencies of the U.S. Department of Defense and increasingly by allied military forces to deliver real-time reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition to tactical operating units. AV's PosiCharge® fast charge systems eliminate battery changing for electric industrial vehicles in factories, airports, and distribution centers. For more information about AV, please visit www.avinc.com.

About Altair Nanotechnologies Inc.

Altairnano is an innovator and manufacturer of advanced novel, ceramic nanomaterials that are used in products that exhibit groundbreaking performance. Altairnano’s products address a diverse range of high-growth energy, industrial and pharmaceutical applications within three businesses: the Altair Power & Energy Group, Altair Materials Group and Altair Life Sciences Group. Our goal, or mission statement, is to create and deliver innovative products that improve the quality of life. For more information visit: www.altairnano.com.

About Go Green Holding AS

Go Green Holding is a Norwegian company, founded in April 2007. The company’s aim is to bring sustainable electric vehicles to the Scandinavian market, supported by an infrastructure for rapid charging. Having teamed up with strong partners, Go Green Holding offers a wide range of 0-emmission electric vehicles to fleet operators and, eventually, the private market. With the development of an infrastructure for rapid chargers, 0-emmission electric vehicles will be a realistic alternativeto fossil fuel vehicles and make a big difference to the environment. Please visit our website at: http://www.go-green.no/

About Micro-Vett, SPA

Micro-Vett is a leader in the electric vehicle market in Europe. Since 1987, Micro-Vett has been operating in the field of electric traction, beginning its business with the design of micro-citycars and then shifting in 1991 to the electrification of light, medium and heavy commercial transport vehicles. Micro-Vett offers products that join mechanical reliability, affordability, security and comfort. Micro-Vett also was responsible for designing PORTER, the most-sold electrical vehicle in Italy (beyond 2000) and the second most-sold electric vehicle in Europe. PORTER is the only electrical vehicle sold in series. Please visit our English website at: http://www.micro-vett.it/eng/indexing.html.

Comments

Several things to point out. The Doblo as tested does not have regenerative braking. The idea behind using half of the 35KWhr battery in the Phoenix is that there are fleet applications where 60 mile per charge with an available 10 minute fast charger meets the design spec way cheaper than ICE solutions.

I'm not sure, but the NanoSafe battery can operate at below freezing temperatures without significant degradation. That may prove handy in Norway.

You stated: "Altairnano bought a stake in Phoenix, so I would think they are pretty confident that it will go foreward."

I'm not sure that is correct. Although Altair is a minority shareholder in Phoenix, I don't believe they purchased their position. Rather, I believe that Phoenix traded a 16% ownership position for a guarantee that Altair would devote their battery production to Phoenix. That agreement, I believe, had significant escape clauses for Altair, allowing them to sell to others if Phoenix failed to meet their quotas in a timely fashion.

$2.0/W is expensive. You can buy a battery cell for less than $1.0 per watt right now from Changs Ascending, a Taiwanese LiFePo4 battery company. It is made in Taiwan, not made in China. You may directly contact to donny@changs-ascending.com.tw

In the last Altair shareholder conference call. Altair remarked that battery cost/watt are approaching $1/watt and that $.30/watt could be reached in 2008 with ramp up. Since the batteries can be totally discharged without damage the power drop is somewhat smooth so an energy gauge is much more reliable than normal deep cycle cells. Altair website www.altairnano.com has pages on the battery performance.

For Go Green, the most important aspect of the day trial was to look at the performance of the battery under realistic charge/discharge situations. We monitored the cell voltage and temperature during this trial and given that we are driving a prototype vehicle (combination of vehicle, BMS and battery), we were pleased with the results. Areas of improvement would be better air circulation throughout the battery pack and also a simple cell balancing algorithm for the upper portions of the charge curve to exploit the battery potential to the fullest. Beyond that, we were very pleased with the combination of the car and battery. Our focus is to develop an infrastructure that will support these technologies and from within the threshold of our research, Aerovironment, Altairnano and Micro Vett seem to be the most tangible partners to make this happen in the short term with a view to continuity.

All this concern over alternative energy storage/delivery is admirable, but how come no attention's ever been paid to the ""Ground Zero"" piles which 'burned' for 99 days despite constant dousing with water (along with other signs of the presence of a tremendous energy surplus @GZ)?

We don't mind if you choose to exist in a parallel universe. Go for it. But, could you turn your telescope toward some other blog that might be a more appropriate place for the dissemination of your views?

Altairnano batteries may drop in price rapidly. From their most recent financial webcast they are developing a 10MWH battery with AES. If AES adds these boxcar sized batteries to the grid 35KWH batteries are sure to drop under $10K then Phoenix will not need CARB credits. Altairnano is positioning itself for rapid ramp up too. Don't talk about replacing batteries either. They are good for thousands of charges at all but extreme temperatures. Rated at better than 250,000 miles. Now if only GM would take notice!

I wonder when and if Altair will offer modular batteries at 4 to 5 KWH per module. They seem to have a 9 KWH size as well as 18 and 35 KWH. That is close to what might be needed. If so, what would the voltage for each size be? The Chevy volt seems to want 350 Volts. Surely the lighter weight and lower cost for the 4 or 5 KWH battery would fit well into a plug-in hybrid like the Chevy Volt aimed at a 10 mile All Electric range application. Toyota is close with a new PHEV version 2.6 KWH NiMH battery, 8 miles AER at twice the earlier Prius size. Of course Li-ion is more weight efficient. When they are plug-in, the energy efficency goes up dramatically for short range days.